Staying connected internationally, on the cheap Posted: 2009-03-29 23:53:18+05:30 IST Updated: Mar 29, 2009 at 2353 hrs IST
: Looking for a system that not only lets you make inexpensive local calls but also allows friends and family back home to reach you cheaply. Here's a way: . The first thing you'll need is an unlocked mobile phone - that is, a phone that's not tied to one particular carrier. (In the US, some carriers will unlock your phone if you ask; abroad, most phones come already unlocked.) Then, whenever you arrive in a new country, you can buy a local SIM card (the tiny, interchangeable chip inside the phone that actually lets you connect to a particular carrier; they're sold at mobile phone stores and kiosks for $2 to $25, depending on the country) and make phone calls and send text messages without paying exorbitant international roaming fees. .Simple enough. But for folks back home to reach you, you'll need Skype. In the last few years, Skype has revolutionised how global nomads keep in touch. Install its software on your Mac or PC, and as long as you've got an internet connection, you can make high-quality audio and video calls to other Skype users almost anywhere on earth. (A few countries, like the UAE, unfortunately block the service.) .Skype, however, also lets you call out to mobile phones and land lines (a service called SkypeOut) and enables you to have your own phone number in any of 23 countries, including the US, Hong Kong, France and Italy (this is called SkypeIn). .Both SkypeOut and SkypeIn carry a relatively low fee. SkypeOut calls to land lines can be as little as 2 cents a minute, while calls to mobile phones are usually a bit more. A SkypeIn subscription, meanwhile, costs $60 a year or $18 for three months. All you have to do before leaving home is to set your American cellphone (an older-generation iPhone) to forward to your SkypeIn number, and all you have to do when you arrive in a new country is get a SIM card, go online and set the Skype software's preferences to forward all calls to the new number. Here's how it works. The caller dials your regular number which is forwarded to your SkypeIn number, which, in turn, forwarded (via SkypeOut) to your international cellphone number. .Unfortunately, Skype does not exist for the iPhone. Instead, you can use a free third-party application called Fring, which functions as a kind of Skype-to-cellphone phone gateway, letting you access your Skype account wherever you have a Wi-Fi signal. (Fring also works on many other smartphones, and lets you connect to a host of other internet communications services, like AIM, MSN Messenger, Twitter and Last.fm.) Just open a Fring account, give Fring your Skype account details, and you're set to make SkypeOut calls to anyone you wish. .Two weeks ago, Google announced a new service called Google Voice that operates much like Skype - only cheaper! Google says the service will be open at first only to users of GrandCentral (a startup Google bought almost two years ago); it will be available to the general public in a few weeks. NY Times http://www.financialexpress.com/news/staying-connected-internationally-on-the-cheap/440275/0 Vikas Kapoor, MSN Id:dl_vi...@hotmail.com, Yahoo&Skype Id: dl_vikas, Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
